Village Squire, 1980-02, Page 23UPDATE
HISTORIC GIFT
The Lambton Heritage Museum south
of Grand Bend recently received a very
historic gift...some drapes belonging to a
Mr. Read. a delegate from Dcleware,
U.S.A.. who signed the American Declar-
ation of Independence in 1776.
The fact that a piece of valuable
American history is located among artifacts
of pioneer Ontario makes for an interesting
story.
The drapes were donated to the museum
by Mrs. W.B. Richardson of Southcott
Pines in Grand Bend who said they came
into her possession about seven years ago
and were previously owned by a Mrs. Lucia
Grimes who died last year at the age of
101.
Mrs. Grimes lived in Detroit but owned a
summer cottage at 1pperwash Beach.
When she was 95. Mrs. Grimes decided
that she could no longer keep the cottage,
and asked Mrs. Richardson's husband who
is in the real estate business to sell it for
her.
The Richardsons,who lived in Forest at
that time, also summered at Ipperwash.
Mrs. Grimes gave the drapes to Mrs.
Richardson and asked her to see that they
were put in a museum where they would be
appreciated. However, Mrs. Grimes asked
that before the drapes be donated, the
museum make a reproduction of the fabric
for her and for Mrs. Richardson.
Mrs. Grimes told Mrs. Richardson that
she had purchased the drapes at an auction
sale in Detroit about 50 years before. The
valuable old contents of Mr. Read's home
had been auctioned off in Detroit to raise
money for charities.
Mrs. Richardson first went to the Henry
Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, but
they didn't have the funds for textile work
and recommneded that she try the Valen-
tine Museum in Richmond, Virginia where
they have a research division for textiles,
which she did. She corresponded with
them for several months and sent them a
piece of the curtain. They verified that it
was at least 200 years old, and said the
style of print and hardware made it
valuable.
At first they agreed to make a reproduc-
tion for Mrs. Grimes, but later said it
would be too costly and difficult. They
wanted the drapes, but Mrs. Grimes
wanted a copy and wouldn't let Mrs.
Richardson send them to the museum.
Mrs. Richardson had the museum send
back the piece she had sent to them to her
sister in Michigan, to avoid customs
difficulties.
In 1976. the Virginiatnuseum wrote back
to her sister, and asked that the panel be
sent back to them for a special bi-centcn-
nial tour. The sister complied, and the
piece of drapes hasn't been seen since.
After Mrs. Grimes' death, Mrs. Richard-
son became concerned about the aging
fabric disintegrating and decided to offer
them to the local museum, where they
would be properly cared for, and displayed
for others to see.
FESTIVAL GETS A BREAK
Stratford City council recently approved
an $80,000 tax write-off in an attempt to
keep the Stratford Festival from closing.
Stratford Festival president R. V. Hicks
had announced early in December that
without large grants from senior govern-
ments. the 1980 season might be the
festival's last.
Although the deficit in 1979 was
$250.000. the festival actually lost $647,000
but was able to partly cover its losses
because of a $400,000 surplus from the
1978 season.
The festival. which contributes an
estimated $25 million annually to the city's
economy, accounts directly for 110 year-
round jobs and 500 seasonal jobs of
six-month duration, and is indirectly
responsible for another estimated 2,000
jobs.
The write-off was in addition to $125,000
in tax concessions which the city has
granted the festival on its two main theatre
buildings as a matter of ongoing policy.
Grants from the federal and provincial
governments combined in 1979 were only
$750,000, down about 10 percent from
1978.
BILLY BISHOP ON FILM
Production on the story of Billy Bishop
the flying ace who shot down 72 German
aircrafts on the western front in the First
World War is scheduled to start next
spring in Canada and could become a
television series, a movie)or both.
Glen -Warren Productions has bought
The Courage of The Early Morning, a book
by Bishop's son Arthur from McClell and
'and Stewart Ltd., publishers of the book in
1965.
At Glen -Warren, Doug Bassett and Joe
Garwood said the story could become a
series with international appeal in the
Commonwealth and other countries.
ADVOCATE GETS NEW HOME
The Mitchell Advocate staff moved
into new quarters early in January, as
workmen completed the paper's move off
the main street and onto Montreal Street in
Mitchell.
After Signal Star Publishing Ltd. of
Goderich, purchased the newspaper from
the late Wanda Mounteer, the Advo
relocated in a rented office on the so
side of Ontario Road.
Before that, the Advocate which had its
beginnings in 1860, had operated out of a
building on the southwest corner of Ontario
Road and St. George St. In 1976, Stacey
Bros. Ltd. bought that building and has
remodelled and added to it to provide office
accomodation for the company.
The new Mitchell Advocate building is a
1600 square foot brick office located
directly north of the main business section
of Mitchell on the former site of an old barn
which was demolished. It stands next to
the town's automatic car wash.
Located in the building aye separate
editorial and advertising officds as well as a
main reception area, a conference room
and a darkroom.
The Advocate plans an open house in the
early spring.
BURNT OUT CLUB TO REBUILD
The members of Stratford's Army Navy
and Air Force Club have decided to rebuild
on the Brunswick Street site of the old club
which was destroyed by a $200,000 fire in
the early morning hours of the New Year.
It was thirty minutes after the last of the
partygoers had left, that a patrolling
policeman discovered the building on fire.
Two firefighters were injured as a result
of the blaze --Deputy Fire Chief Norm
Blundell, who was admitted to Stratford
General Hospital with a leg injury and
firefighter Paul Benjamin,who was treated
for burns to his temple and wrist.
The Avon Theatre which was located
beside the A.N.A.F. Club suffered some
smoke damage.
According to club president Bob Cassels,
the A.N.A.F. is already half -way to having
the plans for a new building.
When the Festival negotiated a land -
transfer deal with the A.N.A.F. Veteran's
Association when land was being assembl-
ed for the Stage One film studio -theatre
school proposal, plans for a new A.N.A.F.
clubhouse were drafted.
The association retained the plans when
the deal fell through.
VILLAGE COUIREIFEBRUARY 1980 PG. 21